In case you are wondering, I have not dropped off the face of the earth. My laptop is in the shop. One of my boys accidentally stepped on the charging cord while it was plugged in and pulled the charging port out of the laptop. It will be a few days still before I will get it back. I am borrowing m son's computer now to try to catch up on some things.
As for what's going on.... way too much!!! We are getting ready for school to start here soon, which involves trips to the doctors for eye exams, new glasses, updated vaccinations, registration for school, shopping for supplies and any other things needed before school starts. The first day of school here is August 7th so we don't have too much more time to prepare. We still have dental appointments, medical exams, and a GI doctor appointment.
In addition to all of that going on we have discovered that bats are living over our carport so we are having them extracted this week. We have to move Anthony out of his apartment by the 31st and bring his stuff home for about one week and then move it back up to get him set up in another apartment. Alex has started Massage Therapy school and Mark will be starting Community College soon. So, beginning in August we will have three kids in advanced education of some sort, one in high school and one in middle school.
Misha is learning English very well. I have been teaching him some of the basic information he will need to know right away and he is picking it up very quickly. I will begin tailoring his language learning to his homework schedule when school starts. I have also been teaching a friend's daughter who is close to the same age as Misha, which has been fun. The two of them compete with each other to see who can do best, which encourages them to study more. At first I was not certain that the sense of competition would be good for them and started to make them stop. I didn't want one of them to develop a lack of confidence with their skills if the other really took off well, but it really has proven to be beneficial. They have a lot of fun with it and nobody has been offended or upset with any part of it yet that I know of. They each do well at times and miss things at times so it evens out.
Misha is still getting along with the family very well. Vernon loves to tease and play around with Misha and he just eats it up. He loves to tease people himself and dishes out just as much as he receives. It is particularly amusing to watch him play around with Mark's girlfriend Deana. Josh and Misha get along pretty very well also. They really seem to be coming along with the brotherly relationship building. At church Misha has started attending his age-appropriate Sunday School class on Sunday mornings and the youth services on Wednesday night. His initial opinion is that the American kids are crazy, but I think he will enjoy the more upbeat younger style of worship soon. I am really praying he will make good friends who will encourage him and help him feel that he fits in.
I have been incredibly blessed with a very full life surrounded by people I love. Even when things are so crazy I know that it is all blessings. God is good!!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Family Snapshot
First weeks home
We have been home for almost 2 weeks now. I know some of you may have been wondering if I was ever going to write again. I have not been on the computer much at home so I haven't been keeping up with Facebook or the blog much. Sorry about that!!
Things are going very well. Misha seems to be very happy to be here. He is getting along well with everybody at home and every where we go. He and Josh are spending a lot of time together since everybody else works. Josh is brushing up on his Russian since Misha doesn't speak much English and the two of them are home a lot by themselves. Russian can be easily spoken at home during the day with no translation necessary. Misha is eating well, sleeping well most nights and seems to be settling in very well all the way around. He is learning to speak a few words here and there. I left a long list of words on his desk last night for him to start working on today. School starts here on the 7th of August, so he has about 1 month to learn as much as I can teach him to help him with communicating at school. Misha has made friends with some of the other children we know who have been adopted from Ukraine. He and Kristina seem to be getting along very well. She will be at the same school he will be attending so it will be very good for both of them to have built a friendship before school starts. Misha joined the boys in his class for Sunday school yesterday. It was the first time I have left him with a group with whom he can't communicate. He said he fell asleep because he couldn't understand anything and was just sitting there. Hopefully he will start picking up the language soon enough that won't be a problem for long. We signed him up for soccer over the weekend. He will start practices on the 13th of August and games will start in September. He seems to be excited about getting to play soccer on a team.
All of the family was able to get together for one evening. We had a friend of ours meet us at the lake near our house and take a quick snapshot of the entire family after work. Hopefully we will be able to get some really nice pictures made some time in the not too distant future, but for now the quick snapshot will have to suffice.
Things are going very well. Misha seems to be very happy to be here. He is getting along well with everybody at home and every where we go. He and Josh are spending a lot of time together since everybody else works. Josh is brushing up on his Russian since Misha doesn't speak much English and the two of them are home a lot by themselves. Russian can be easily spoken at home during the day with no translation necessary. Misha is eating well, sleeping well most nights and seems to be settling in very well all the way around. He is learning to speak a few words here and there. I left a long list of words on his desk last night for him to start working on today. School starts here on the 7th of August, so he has about 1 month to learn as much as I can teach him to help him with communicating at school. Misha has made friends with some of the other children we know who have been adopted from Ukraine. He and Kristina seem to be getting along very well. She will be at the same school he will be attending so it will be very good for both of them to have built a friendship before school starts. Misha joined the boys in his class for Sunday school yesterday. It was the first time I have left him with a group with whom he can't communicate. He said he fell asleep because he couldn't understand anything and was just sitting there. Hopefully he will start picking up the language soon enough that won't be a problem for long. We signed him up for soccer over the weekend. He will start practices on the 13th of August and games will start in September. He seems to be excited about getting to play soccer on a team.
All of the family was able to get together for one evening. We had a friend of ours meet us at the lake near our house and take a quick snapshot of the entire family after work. Hopefully we will be able to get some really nice pictures made some time in the not too distant future, but for now the quick snapshot will have to suffice.
When I look at this snapshot I see some wonderful loving children. I have been so blessed with a great family!!! We are not perfect and have our rough days on occasion, but we fit together as God has put us together. God has been so good to all of us.
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